Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic has been an MVP candidate all season, but Charles Barkley believes he should no longer be in the running. When a list of the contenders and the games they have missed was brought up on Inside the NBA, Barkley asked for Doncic to be removed from it and joked about the Lakers tanking.
“We love Luka, take him off the list,” Barkley said. “That ship has sailed, okay? Let’s stop it, Ernie [Johnson]… The Lakers out here tanking right now. Adam Silver gotta fine them soon, ’cause they just out here tanking… The Lakers lost to the Suns last night… They’re closer to the play-in than they are first place… Adam Silver just don’t have the courage to fine the Lakers.”
The Lakers got off to a winning start after the All-Star break by beating the Los Angeles Clippers, but followed that up by losing three in a row. On Thursday, they lost 113-110 to a Phoenix Suns team without Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks.
It has been a rough stretch for the Lakers, and Doncic has faced a whole lot of criticism for it. The six-time All-Star has been ripped for all his complaining and his struggles on the defensive end.
While Doncic has his flaws, he certainly wasn’t the one to blame for the loss to the Suns. The Slovenian had 41 points (12-21 FG), eight rebounds, eight assists, and two steals on the night.
Doncic is now averaging 32.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2025-26 for a Lakers team that is sixth in the Western Conference with a 34-24 record. He definitely shouldn’t be the frontrunner, but removing him completely from the mix is a bit much.
Doncic’s numbers are ridiculous, and it’s not as if the Lakers find themselves outside the top 10 in the West. They will need to climb up the standings, though, if he is to have a strong case for MVP. Doncic has only finished in the top three in voting once in his career, and as things stand, he’s likely to finish outside it again in 2026.
As for who Barkley thinks should be leading the MVP race, he pointed to two superstars in the Eastern Conference.
“The two guys who should be frontrunners for MVP are Cade Cunningham and Jaylen Brown,” Barkley stated.
Cade Cunningham has led the Detroit Pistons to a league-best 43-14 record. The Pistons have far surpassed expectations, as have Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics were expected to struggle this season as Jayson Tatum was set for a long spell on the sidelines after tearing his Achilles tendon in the playoffs last season. They had traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in the offseason as well, but are still somehow second in the East with a 38-20 record.
Brown has been a big reason for the Celtics’ success, averaging 29.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. Many doubted if he was capable of being a No. 1 option, and he has proven a lot of his critics wrong.
As for Cunningham, he is putting up 25.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game for the Pistons in 2025-26. He is the best player on the team with the best record, which gives him a pretty good case to win MVP.
It will be fascinating to see how this MVP race pans out the rest of the season.
